Anaya's Creator: Chapter 7. Yippee! It's the weekend, Yippee! Cue the reviews, Kaiba, if you please.
Kaiba: (unenthusiastically) Ta-da.
Zuko's 1 and Only:
Remember the sixth book, that's only as far asVoldemort is going to interfere. Sorry. Sakura's not really going to change.
Arrathir:
I know it's constructive critizism; and it's appreciated. Cannonical charactors? Sakura has many flaws, they'll be exposed in a few chapters.
Anaya's Creator: I don't own Harry Potter, Yu-Gi-Oh, or Inu-Yasha.
Chapter 7: Cupid be Damned!
The brunette turned around and saw Professor Dumbledore seated on one of the empty desks. "How did you get in here without Sakura or me noticing?" he demanded.
"I have my ways, Mr. Kaiba," the headmaster answered, smiling pleasantly. He walked over to the youth. "So, some romantic feelings have transpired between you and my niece. I was wondering why she wasn't quite herself this week."
"Sir, I don't have time for this," Kaiba said, walking towards the door.
"What if I told you she returned your feelings?"
Seto halted and faced the teacher, a hauteur of defiance and doubt evident in his eyes. "I don't believe you. How can I? You probably saw what happened. She said she couldn't be with me. Besides, how would you know?"
Dumbledore chuckled softly. "You have much to learn about Sakura, Seto. I could see it in her eyes and I noticed her slight hesitance when leaving your grasp."
Kaiba stared at the professor, not saying a word.
"Lately, I have sensed a bond between you two. It seems to me that some invisible subconscious force that even I cannot explain draws you both to each other. A bond that formed centuries ago, millennia even." Kaiba suddenly cut him off.
"If you're going to say this has something to do with me being a high priest in ancient Egypt, you've lost it too."
"Ancient Egypt?"
Realizing that Dumbledore had no idea what he was talking about, Seto muttered, "Never mind."
"Anyway, get through the O.W.L.s this week and don't worry about Sakura; she does return your feelings, she'll come to you when she is ready. Trust me on this."
-8-Dream-8-
"You say she was cornered by a group of man servants that had beaten her and were about to rape her, Priest Seto?" asked an unfamiliar male voice.
"Yes, Priest Mahado," someone who sounded a lot like Seto Kaiba replied.
"It matters not how she was found. I say we imprison her kaa. It must hold power of some kind after an incident such as that."
"Calm yourself, Akunadin," chastised a cool woman's voice. "We have no reason to do such a thing to this young woman."
So many voices, they echoed in her head and muddled together as she lay on a bed of soft hay, her head resting on a headrest. There were linen hangings around her bed, hiding whoever was speaking from view. Sakura's eyes wandered to the clothes, which were made of pleated linen, and her hair was back in several braids again. She turned and looked at the hard object that her head was resting on. It was made of ebony and there were hieroglyphics carved into it.
'I must be that girl from my dream again and judging from my surroundings she lived in ancient Egypt,' she thought. Her hand touched where her cheek had been struck and felt a lukewarm paste on it. She glanced at her shoulder and saw some balm had been spread on it as well. That priest who had rescued her from those thugs must have taken her to a healer like he said he would.
"I must insist, better safe than sorry. We need the most powerful kaas we can get."
"What makes you think she's so powerful, Akunadin?"
"Your odd interference, Priest Seto. You don't meddle in the affairs of those below you unless you see some sort of self-gain."
Cautiously, Sakura pulled back the hangings and she saw several strangers dressed in fine linen clothing. Two of them, as far as she could tell were female. One was tall and full-grown with hair covered by white cloth and a golden headdress while a golden necklace adorned her neck. The other was quite the opposite. She looked no more than ten and had long brown hair and bright blue eyes that sparkled like the waters in the Nile.
As for the men, one of them had his back to her and looked exactly like Yami from behind. Another was her rescuer, the Seto Kaiba clone. There was an old man with a short silver beard and mustache with an eye made of gold. The last man was covered in linen and had a ring with a pyramid in the center with some charms hanging off of it.
"We don't even know who she is. She could be a spy or even a thief," the man with the golden eye insisted.
Kaiba's look a like suddenly looked in her direction. "Why don't you just use your Millennium Eye to find out Akunadin? She's up," he pointed out impassively.
The man with the golden eye approached her, his remaining human eye relentlessly staring her down. There was a flash of blinding light and Sakura could feel the man's gaze penetrate her soul. "Her name is Sanura, she is a servant in the kitchens." he admitted at last.
"Well," said Yami's look a like. "Just so we can keep an eye on her, I propose that she serves one of us and since Priest Seto is the one who found her, it seems only fair that she becomes his servant."
"What!" Priest Seto and Akunadin exclaimed simultaneously.
'Hey don't I get any input on this!' Sakura thought furiously. She banged her fist on the bed to show her frustration. But then the scene around her began to melt away into blackness.
-8-End Dream-8-
Sakura awoke the next morning with her heart pounding so hard it was giving her a headache. It was still night, according to her watch it was now quarter after one. Man, not only do I have to worry about the O.W.L.s this week, I keep getting these weird dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night, just peachy. Sanura... that's who I am to people in my dreams... I wonder if, like Yami, Bakura, and Seto, I have a past life in ancient Egypt too. That would explain why I can't speak in these dreams and why I don't act in them as I normally would.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
The O.W.L.s started promptly the next morning after breakfast. There was a written test in the morning, then a short break and lunch, followed by the practical examination in the afternoon. The end result was four very physically and mentally exhausted teenagers putting off the thought of even more studying for the next day.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Ryou moaned as he collapsed into a squashy armchair beside the hearth with his head held in one of his pale hands. It was incredibly late Wednesday night after their Astronomy practical and hell, were these students worn out.
/Whine, whine, whine; that's all I hear nowadays from you, hikari. Toughen up and take it like a man/ Bakura growled over his and Ryou's mind link.
/Well, you try going for a week doing nothing but taking tests or studying every waking moment. Besides, I have a roaring headache, so leave me alone/ As the poor suffering white-haired boy massaged his temples, it felt like a heard of African elephants were running throughout his brain.
Worried, Britts got out some Headache Potion and gave it to him to drink.
"If you guys think it's bad this year, it was even worse last year with that Umbridge hag watching over us like a hungry vulture," Sakura said as she stumbled through the portrait hole with Kaiba bringing up the rear. "Not to mention this is my second year going through this torture." She was so out of it that without noticing she fell backwards onto Seto, who put his arms around her so she wouldn't fall to the floor.
"I'll take her up to bed, Kaiba," Lara said, slinging her friend's arm over her shoulder. "The staircase to our dorms won't let boys go up it."
"That's peculiar. Girls are allowed in our dormitories," Seto pointed out.
"It's just the way the castle works." Lara turned and in no time she and Sakura were up the staircase and out of sight, followed soon by Britts.
"I saw that," remarked a little voice from around Kaiba's middle.
Seto looked down and saw Mokuba standing right next to him. How his little brother got there without him noticing, he had no idea. "Mokuba, what are you doing up? It's after midnight; you should be in bed," he scolded.
The little boy flashed him a big innocent smile. "But big brother, I had to stay up until you got back. I had to make sure you were okay."
"I appreciate it kiddo; to bed with you, now."
With a disappointed look on his face, Mokuba obeyed.
"Lucky for us, the N.E.W.T. classes are still reviewing and we won't have to make up the work we missed," Yugi commented, yawning. Otherwise, we'd never catch up. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed. G'night."
"I think I'll turn in too," Ryou said, reluctantly pulling himself out of the comfy chair he had nearly fallen asleep in to follow the tri-colored hair midget.
A little while later, everyone had fallen asleep, except for Yugi Motou. He was sitting on his four-poster bed with the hangings drawn, despite the fact his body was begging for sleep.Then from out of nowhere a translucent figure that looked exactly like him, only older and with violet-crimson eyes, appeared beside him. "You should really be sleeping, Yugi. It's gonna be another long day tomorrow. Is something troubling you?" it asked.
"I guess all these tests are starting to get to me, Yami." He looked inquiringly at the figure. "But you've been acting strange lately too. Ever since that incident in the library you've spent much time looking at Sakura, not as if you like her, more like she reminds you of someone, but you can't figure out who."
"Indeed, she d—" Yami was suddenly cut off by Yugi muttering, "Grandpa, when is the next Duel Monsters tournament starting?" in his sleep. He smiled at his younger double and disappeared.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
The weekend finally rolled around and Yugi, Ryou, and Sakura spent most of Saturday catching up on some well deserved sleep while Seto was checking up on Kaiba Corp, much to his little brother's displeasure.
"Seto, you really need to get some rest," Mokuba insisted. The kid had a point. By the end of the week all four of them were unusually pale and had bags under their eyes and his older brother had been no exception. Not to mention that Yugi and Ryou couldn't even drag themselves out of bed for breakfast that morning. Britts had said that Sakura had even needed to take some dreamless sleep potion before she went to bed the previous night in order to fall asleep.
"Nonsense, Mokuba," Kaiba argued. "I haven't had a chance to make certain nothing's gone wrong back home for a week."
"Kaiba Corp is fine, trust me on this bro."
Near evening, the demon girl finally woke up. A small smile came to her face as she saw Stitch curled up beside her. "At last, those damn tests are over and life can go back to normal, eh Stitch?" she murmured as she scratched his back. Normal... Her smile suddenly faded as she remembered the confession Kaiba had made to her nearly a week before.
Noticing his mistress' expression, Stitch crawled closer to Sakura and snuggled against her chest comfortingly.
"I just don't get it, Stitch. What is it that he sees in me? Out of all the girls her could want, he picks me, an albino tomboy with dog ears that isn't even pure human."
"Perhaps in all the time you two have spent together, he's learned to look past your gruff part-demon exterior," suggested a voice.
Sakura rolled over and saw Britts sitting on the side of her bed. "You think?" the albino asked doubtfully, raising an eyebrow.
"No, we know so," Lara said as she stepped out from behind Sakura's bed hangings. "Oh, and welcome back to the land of the living; I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever wake up. Then the only person I'd have to win chocolate off the other girls is our little goddess of innocence here." She jabbed her thumb at Britts to emphasize her point.
"Jesting aside, even if he can does really like me. I don't even know how I feel," Sakura told them.
"Well,Britts and I noticed you hesitated when you tore yourself from his arms when he admitted he cared for you," Lara confessed.
"You guys were spying on us!" The demon girl leapt out of bed and grabbed the blonde by the neck of her robes, the flames of rage blazing in her eyes.
"For emotional support I might add," Laraadded hastilyas Sakura released her. "Plus, if you did only see him as a friend you would have been able to talk to Kaiba normally these past two weeks instead of shying away from him. How do you feel when he's near you?"
"I'm not sure, I guess I feel calmer... safer when he's with me. And my heart beats so fast I can barely hear anything else."
"And when he kissed you?" Britts inquired.
"Giddy, overjoyed and apprehensive all at once..." Sakura chuckled softly at her stupidity as the truth became clear to her. "God, I'm stupid. I've got to find Seto." She turned on her heel and flew out the door.
"Well, that was easy," Britts said as she let out a long held in breath.
"Excellent work, my friend. With our help, I think Cupid's persistent arrow has finally penetrated the iron heart of Sakura," Lara said a broad smile forming on her face as the sound of Sakura's footsteps faded away. The two friends exchanged high-fives then followed their friend. "Now we just need to get you to tell the same to Ryou,"
"Lara!" Britts exclaimed, blushing madly.
"Mokuba, where's your brother?" Sakura asked when she had reached the common room. Seto wasn't there.
"He said he was going for a walk by the lake."
"Thanks kiddo," she gave him an appreciative pat on the shoulder and rushed out of the common room.
Outside the sun was setting behind the mountains, casting long shadows from the trees of the Forbidden Forest. As Sakura came down the steps of the castle she saw a vague figure standing on the edge of the lake, staring into its darkening depths.
"Seto!" she shouted as she ran towards him.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
Anaya's Creator: Please review.